I will list in this section all the supplements I know of that can work in some way in this disease and that have not been discussed elsewhere.
The most important is DHEA, one of the hormones. First, the victims have much, much lower concentrations than the healthy:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16900763
Second (no clinical trials here, I’m relying on what I’ve heard from patients), supplementation caused a very strong and very rapid improvement in mood and overall health. Practically life-changing, this could not be compared with anything. I highly recommend it. 25 mg a day should be a sufficient dose, but you need to determine it individually, depending on your reaction. In mice, DHEA supplementation stopped the development of the disease, but here much cannot be promised, for obvious reasons (DHEA cannot be patented) human studies have never been conducted. As the substance can have a strong effect on the endocrine system, you can advise your doctor and do research beforehand. I really advise you to look for one who will be willing to go into detail, will not baffle the patient with a short “please don’t read the Internet!”. DHEA can affect the efficiency of birth control pills, use should be consulted with a gynecologist.
Vitamin D. Available studies give conflicting results. In some clinical trials, there was no effect, but in one of them managed to reduce the number of exacerbations twice:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3537648
In addition, patients received magnesium and calcium, which may have contributed to the success. Without magnesium, vitamin D3 itself is more difficult to absorb.
What effects does vitamin D have? First of all, its role in the development of multiple sclerosis is absolutely proven. Which means that if your doctor had prescribed it to you as a child, you might be healthy now. If you look at the calendar of flare-ups, most occur in winter or spring – when vitamin D levels in the body are at their lowest. So it’s worth supplementing to protect yourself from disease.
But there’s more. Vitamin D protects against viral upper respiratory diseases, the flu and the common cold. Initial studies have shown powerful cancer-protective effects, sometimes on the order of tens of percent (note from 2018 – subsequent studies have not confirmed such a strong effect, unfortunately). In one clinic for the treatment of chronic pain, high doses of vitamin D were experimentally administered to patients. Most of the patients completely discontinued pain medications within a few weeks, as all their symptoms disappeared.
The dose should be 2,000 to 4,000 units in winter, in summer – depending on how much contact with the sun you have, you can even dispense with pills altogether. Along with vitamin D, magnesium should be supplemented, otherwise supplementation of deficiencies in a short time will lead to consumption of stores from the blood and severe magnesium deficiency symptoms: constipation, headaches, nervousness (magnesium is used by vitamin D, without it it just circulates in the blood and we can’t use it very much, so people with vitamin D deficiency very often have magnesium deficiency, even if they eat a lot of it).
MSM – or organic sulfur. I will perhaps describe the effects of taking MSM for myself. But first a little history. Seven years before this experiment I tore a muscle, which was the end of my career as an athlete, basically overnight I turned from a fit person into a semi-invalid. I limped walking, the mobility of the joint was reduced and it hurt on any occasion. Seven years passed, I bought a “fraudulent, harmful” MSM. I bought for a completely different purpose, I wanted to improve circulation (which, however, as it turned out, was in the most perfect order, but that’s another story). On the third day of taking this specific, I tried to stretch a little before going to bed. And it turned out…. the injury was gone. After 7 years of pain and limited mobility, the symptoms completely disappeared in 3 days.
I felt many other effects at the same time. Allergy problems disappeared (and it is a fact that people who use MSM wean off asthma medications). My breathing improved a lot, snoring disappeared, all the chest pains I had acquired by humping at the computer disappeared. Outstandingly improved the condition of my hair, strengthened my nails. Immunity improved. Circulation as it turned out I was fine, but now I believe people who tell how MSM no longer had to undergo bypass surgery. As if by hand, all joint pain disappeared, the persistent buzzing in my ear, which often did not give me peace of mind, disappeared within a few days. I also believe people whose connective tissue autoimmune diseases regressed, and I saw with my own eyes how it literally put a girl with rheumatoid arthritis back on her feet (literally, before that she couldn’t walk very much, after MSM she started running). I suppose widespread MSM supplementation would bankrupt many pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies. This substance is a true miracle. If I had not felt it on myself, I would not have believed that deficiencies could be so deep and so troublesome.
Of course, it can’t be patented, so don’t expect widespread use in medicine, but it has been used in veterinary medicine for years. You can buy it by weight for pennies.
I have no idea what effect it will have on the course of MS. In fact, all friends who have tried MSM have had significant improvements in their overall health, so I suppose deficiencies are common. It is suggested that the main function of MSM is to strengthen and regulate collagen structures, in theory, this substance may be able to “clean” neck veins, without any surgery. It is also known that it has a very strong anti-inflammatory effect and crosses the blood-brain barrier, so it is one of the few agents capable of stopping inflammation in the nervous system. I highly recommend it, but as it has never been tested in this particular condition, I can’t guarantee that it won’t harm you. I took a chance on myself and experienced something comparable to magic. But I cannot take responsibility for the effects MSM will bring to someone else. For those who are willing – I advise you to start with 1 gram a day, do not exceed 3.
Note from 2018: studies on cell cultures have shown positive effects of sulfur compounds, the authors of the study suggest to test in clinical trials the effect of using MSM, due to the potentially large therapeutic effect:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892317/
Blog post on the subject:
https://healthytreatment.org/2022/01/29/msm/
Something every sick person has probably heard of, alpha lipoic acid. Studies have shown that it protects the nervous system to some extent. Note from 2018: tested the effect in multiple sclerosis, alpha lipoic acid admittedly did not affect the symptoms experienced by patients in a strongly visible way, but significantly improved the picture of the disease in tests (68% slower progression of lesions detected by tests):
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5489387/
Copper. MS patients have lower levels of copper in their blood and brain, also they have much less of it in their diet (this is a risk factor). Studies have not been done, but all indications are that copper will be a good supplement. Doses of 2-4 mg per day should be completely sufficient, and after a few months can be reduced to even less than 1 mg per day.
Zinc. A somewhat “risky” supplement, excess zinc is suspected of causing or aggravating the course of the disease. But it is an element absolutely essential for life. Some patients are deficient in it, low levels significantly weaken immunity, which can cause infections, which in turn can lead to relapse. I am not able to decide whether it is worth taking it, let everyone decide for themselves. If someone wants to take zinc, he should certainly take only copper first for a month or two.
Beta-alanine. A very important substance. It regulates how collagen structures, including blood vessels, are arranged. It exerts a powerful protective effect on the brain, sometimes instantly reversing some conditions (the partial reversal of autism symptoms after starting beta alanine supplementation has been repeatedly described on forums, and this is also, to some degree, confirmed by clinical studies). It protects against some other degenerative diseases of the brain, for example, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease. It prolongs youth by smoothing out wrinkles (this alone is a good reason for supplementation), increases energy, improves mood, and protects against free radicals. The positives alone. And all because we are deficient in beta alanine in our current diet. Note: after taking it, you may experience a slight tingling sensation, which will pass very quickly. With large portions, this tingling can be very painful. It hardly occurs if beta alanine is taken together with a meal containing a lot of carbohydrates, and by the way, it is also absorbed better then. As with other supplements not tested for this particular condition, one can only guess what effect it will have. A small clinical trial is currently underway to study the effect of beta alanine on the disease:
https://n.neurology.org/content/82/10_Supplement/P7.253
(2018 note – there are still no results from the trial…)
(Note from 2021 – posted result, “too small a group of patients to draw conclusions”)
The correct way to supplement is with one larger dose in the morning (e.g., 2 grams), and then many lower doses throughout the day. The first dose is designed to neutralize the enzyme that breaks down beta alanine.
Creatine and taurine. A mixture of these two substances can be bought for a ridiculously low amount of money in any sports.. No exact data or clinical trials are available (you know, substances that can’t be patented…), but both have an important role in the brain and people with multiple sclerosis seem to have lower concentrations than the population average. Supplementation with small doses, up to 2 grams of creatine per day, up to 1 gram of taurine.
The aforementioned beta alanine, used for a long time, will induce taurine deficiency, so it is necessary to use supplementation with these two substances alternately, for example, 20 days of beta alanine, 10 days of taurine. In such cases, higher doses of taurine should also be used, for example, 1 gram 3 times a day.
Trace elements, primarily molybdenum, which is closely associated with MS, both positively and negatively. I would take a risk, however, mainly because the only study in which molybdenum was supplemented, among other things, resulted in an improvement of a full point on the disability scale. But I would only take it in combination with MSM, or organic sulfur. The other very important element is iodine. One of the risk factors for disease is low iodine levels. Supplementation has one very important advantage: it probably protects against breast and prostate cancer. Considering that statistically the risk of death from these cancers is 1 in 30 (death, not getting the disease, getting the disease is much higher), it is really worth taking iodine in higher doses. I personally take several times the recommended doses and my health has improved very noticeably, especially my state of mind, I began to think much, much more clearly, I remembered a lot of things that I had long thought forgotten. However, it should be taken into account that for almost 20 years of a diet without sea fish I have developed a very large deficiency of this element. Under no circumstances should you take kelp-type preparations, due to the risk of heavy metal poisoning. Iodine directly affects the work of the thyroid gland, (truth be told, the only function of the thyroid gland is to convert iodine into hormones), its deficiency will always cause hypothyroidism, and hypothyroidism always causes deterioration of multiple sclerosis patients and very much slows down the process of regeneration of myelin. Note: MS patients have a much higher risk of Hashimoto’s disease, iodine supplementation can accelerate the disease or even cause it. You should start with very small doses and increase them very slowly, monitoring the level of antithyroid antibodies (ATPO), preferably under the supervision of a doctor. Necessarily under the protection of selenium.
Boron. No one has ever studied the effect of boron on the course of the disease, but very good effects in similar diseases, epidemiological studies and the suggested mechanism of action make us suspect that the effect will be very positive. Suggested dose: from 3 to as much as 15 mg per day (but such high doses only at the beginning of therapy, for a few weeks until the greatest deficiency is replenished).
Protein, specifically certain amino acids:
Tryptophan. MS patients have about half the level of this amino acid in their blood, on top of the reduced level in their cerebrospinal fluid. Given that without tryptophan there is no regeneration of myelin, its deficiency is a very big problem. Additionally, it must be supplemented separately, as any other protein blocks its absorption. As with most other supplements, this is just guesswork. The theory is that it should help, but there is always the possibility that it will harm nonetheless.
Lysine. Significantly improves the condition of blood vessels and blocks some inflammatory processes, in addition, it blocks the proliferation of certain viruses, which in turn reduces the risk of casts.
Histidine. Necessary for the regeneration of myelin, but also for the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. Patients with multiple sclerosis have very low levels of histidine, leading to reduced gastrointestinal efficiency, which in turn exacerbates protein deficiencies. This amino acid is essential for histamine production, which has resulted in the invention of therapies in which histamine patches (or something similar) are given to patients, but this is not the way to go. Low histamine levels are an effect, not a cause. Histidine levels should be raised. Unfortunately, no one has tested this in practice.
Histidine is necessary for the body to use beta alanine.
Phenylalanine. Giving it to patients (along with vitamin B12 and the antidepressant Lofepramine) reversed the symptoms of the disease very quickly. The effect was instantaneous and very strong. Admittedly, the levels of phenylalanine in the patients’ cerebrospinal fluid are much higher than among the average population, which would tend to suggest its toxicity, but as it turns out, this is probably not the case. It is not known what the effect of administration would be without this antidepressant, as it is a prescription drug, you can print out the study below and present it to your doctor:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12376086